Skyrim is 5th series of the epic saga known as The Elder Scrolls. Famous for the first person shooter and open-world view, Skyrim continues the Role Playing genre retaining all the favorite aspects of Morrowind and Oblivion while introducing a bunch of new features.



New classes, new guilds, new civilizations, new state-of-the-art graphics and...
wait for it...
Dragons!

Follow my step-by-step guide on installing, configuring and optimizing Skyrim in Linux with PlayOnLinux.

Note: This guide applies to the Steam version of Skyrim. Other versions may require additional steps.

Tips & Specs

To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux Explained

Mint 14 32-bit
PlayOnLinux: 4.2.1
Wine: 1.7.8

Installing Wine

Click Tools
Select "Manage Wine Versions"


Look for the Wine Version: 1.7.8
Select it
Click the arrow pointing to the right


Click Next

PlayOnLinux will automatically download it and save it in this directory:
/home/username/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86


Note: username is where you put your login name

Its a good idea to backup this directory to another computer because you won't have to keep downloading wine versions when you need them.

Extracting

Downloading Gecko


Installed


Wine 1.7.8 is installed and you can close this window

Setup PlayOnLinux

Launch PlayOnLinux
click Install


Click "Install a non-listed program"


Click Next

Select "Install a program in a new virtual drive"
Click Next


Name your virtual drive: skyrim
No spaces


Select all three options:

• Use another version of Wine
• Configure Wine
• Install some libraries

Click Next


Select Wine 1.7.8
Click Next


Note: If you are running a 64-bit system, PlayOnLinux will prompt if you want to use a 64-bit or 32-bit virtual drive.
Always select 32-bit virtual drive.

Wine Configuration

Applications Tab
Windows Version: Windows 7
Click Apply


Graphics Tab
Check "Automatically cpature the mouse in full-screen windows"
Check "Emulate a virtual desktop"
Desktop Size: 1024x768
click Ok


Installing Libraries (packages or components)

Check all of the libraries below:

• POL_Install_corefonts
• POL_Install_d3dx10
• POL_Install_d3dx9
• POL_Install_vcrun2008
• POL_Install_tahoma
• POL_Install_xact

Click Next


Installing Steam from DVD

Select "CD-ROM : SKYRIM_EN"
Click Next


Click "Install The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"


License Agreement
Check "I accept the terms..."
Click Install

Steam License Agreement
Click "I accept the license..."
Click Next

Click Install

Updating Steam


When steam login appears you will find there is no text displayed.
Click the "X" and close Steam!
We will fix this in a later step


PlayOnLinux crash
You might also find that PlayOnLinux crashed during the Steam installation
Click Next to continue


PlayOnLinux Shortcut

Select Steam.exe
Click Next


Name your Shortcut: Skyrim Steam
Note: If you have other Steam shortcuts this will eliminate conflicts with other shortcuts
Click Next


Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Click Next


Configure PlayOnLinux

In PlayOnLinux click Configure


Select Skyrim Steam virtual drive

General Tab
Wine version: 1.7.8 (ignore the wine version in the screnshot)
Arguments: -no-dwrite

Note: -no-dwrite fixes the text/font problem with Steam client



Display Tab
Direct Draw Renderer: opengl
Video memory size: Amount of memory on your video card
Offscreen rendering mode: fbo


Installing Skyrim from DVD

Note: If you want to download Skyrim from the internet through Steam, skip this step
(of course, the DVD installation is much quicker)

Miscellaneous Tab
Click "Open a shell"


Navigate to the DVD with the shell

Code:

cd /media/username/SKYRIM_EN

Press Enter

Note: username is where you put your Linux login

Note: Your media might be mounted in a different place depending on your version of Linux. Mint mounts DVD drives in /media/username

Type

Code:

ls

then press Enter to view the DVD contents


Launch Skyrim Setup.exe

Code:

./Setup.exe -no-dwrite

Click "Install The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim


Accept License agreement again

Steam will automatically launch with text
Click Login to an existing account


Login


Steam Overlay

Some games will not work with Steam Overlay
Click Steam Menu
Click Settings

Select "In-Game" on the left
Uncheck "Enable Steam Community In-Game"
Click OK


Installing Skyrim

Skyrim installer will automatically launch
Enter Product Code
Click Next


Click Next


Installing...
Should take about 12 minutes


Installation successful
Click Finish


Steam library should automatically appear.
If not, right click the Steam icon in the systems tray and select "Library"


Skyrim updating
Should be quick because there aren't a whole lot of updates to apply


Launching Skyrim

Continue from Steam Download
If you skipped the DVD install and downloaded Skyrim through Steam, Continue here

Click Play


Hardware detection
Click Ok


My GeForce 550 Ti was set for Ultra High Quality


Graphical Options

Click Options


Graphics Adapter: your video card model
Aspect Ratio:

• Widescreen 16:10
• Widescreen 16:9
• Fullscreen 4:3

Resolution:

• Higher settings = more detail lower frame rates
• Lower settings = less detail higher frame rates

Antialiasing:Smooths out edges, higher setting lower frame rates
Anisotropic Filtering: higher setting lower frame rates

Presets: Automatically configure your graphical settings with Low, Medium, High or Ultra
Advanced: Gives you more control over how distant objects appear and their quality

Note: Play with these settings to for smoother movement and quality. Start and slowly increase.

Click Ok


Click Play


Conclusion:
Skyrim ran beautifully on my system. Wine 1.7.8 does a great job and I didn't have too many issues.
Tree animation was not smooth and the shadows moved irregularly. Also my character can not see underwater. Keep checking back as I will investigate how to fix these two issues.

Screenshots: